Chittagong – More than 50 people have fallen sick after inhaling toxic gas leaked from a cylinder at a fertilizer factory in Bangladeshi port city of Chittagong, officials said on Tuesday.

Rescuers from Fire Service and Civil Defence rushed those people to different hospitals in Chittagong as they fell sick soon after ammonium gas spread in the adjoining areas of the state-run Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilizer factory in Anwara sub-district.

“We have taken 50 people who were suffering from breathing problem to the hospital,” firefighter Josim Uddin, who was leading the rescue operation, told reporters on the scene.

He added that his team had managed to stop the gas seepage, which began at 10.30 pm Monday. “It took more than six hours to bring the situation under control,” the officer said.

During the evacuation, the local administration asked the residents of the area not to lit fire and drink as much as water they could to avoid serious hazards.

The firefighting official said that the accident occurred during filling of gas into a tank before it would have been used for fertilized production. He said one of the tanks of the factory was destroyed.

District administration has formed a three-member committee to investigate the accident. Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Mesbah Uddin asked the committee to report back in seven days.

“Punitive actions will be taken if it is found that the accident was occurred due to someone’s negligence,” Uddin told BBC Bangla service radio by phone.

Physicians at Chittagong Medical College Hospital said that those who were admitted with respiratory complexities are out of danger.